The Constitution Unit

Labour’s Constitutional Agenda in Office: Constitution Unit Conference 2025 - The rule of law

Episode Summary

The Lord Chancellor and the Attorney General have both placed great emphasis on this new government upholding the rule of law. What does this mean in practice? Has the government delivered on this aspiration, and what more is needed to do so? What challenges has it faced?

Episode Notes

This summer marks a year since Labour’s landslide victory at the 2024 general election. The party’s manifesto contained a number of pledges for reforming the UK’s constitution and political institutions. So how have those pledges fared since Labour took office? Which promises have been delivered? What unexpected changes have been introduced? And what further reforms will – or should – be on the government’s agenda?

The rule of law 

The Lord Chancellor and the Attorney General have both placed great emphasis on this new government upholding the rule of law. What does this mean in practice? Has the government delivered on this aspiration, and what more is needed to do so? What challenges has it faced? 

Speakers:

• Andy Slaughter MP – Labour MP for Hammersmith and Chiswick, and chair of the House of Commons Justice Committee
• Baroness (Victoria) Prentis of Banbury KC – Conservative peer, former Attorney General and former Conservative MP
• Dr Joelle Grogan – legal academic and presenter of The Law Show on BBC Radio 4

Chair: Professor Veronika Fikfak – Professor of Human Rights and International Law, UCL